Someday...

I've been crocheting for seven years now. I've read hundreds, if not thousands, books and blogs about crochet. There are always great pearls of wisdom in each and every one. And I'm really good at ignoring most of it. My latest...buy enough yarn for your project before you start. Of course I didn't. In my own defense, I totally thought it was enough yarn. These skeins I bought for this afghan were enormous! But now I'm halfway finished and my white yarn is very near extinct. Yikes!

Initially I wasn't too worried. I happened to pass by Woolworth's today and figured I'd snag another skein and go on my merry way. And the unthinkable, but totally predictable happened. There was no white yarn in stock. If I spoke enough German, I would've asked an employee if they had more in the back. But my language skills don't get me that far yet, so I didn't bother. I doubt they did, anyway. Their yarn section was looking pretty understocked in general. I figure I'll give it another week or so and see if they get more in stock. If not, I think I see a trip up to Munich in my future. Someday I might learn to do things the right way the first time.

So, the lesson in today's post: Always buy enough yarn for your entire project before you begin. No ifs, ands, or buts.

Oh! I'll be posting pictures of my Dots Afghan soon. I finished it about a month ago, but between work and vacation, I haven't had time to take the pictures, let alone post them. I'm super happy with the results. It's about seven and a half feet long and six feet wide. Quite the monstrosity! And I love every inch of it. Well, peace out for now, hookers.

Afghan Inspiration

As I was perusing the DIY & Crafts section on Pinterest I came across this super cute quilt. It was really simple: triangles in happy shades of blue, green, orange, grey, and white. I fell in love with it immediately. I'm not really much of a quilter. Sure, I get the basic ideas behind it and I know how to sew, but I just don't see myself quilting anytime in the future. I was about to keep on going down the board and then the thought struck me - why not crochet an afghan version of it?

It will be simple. A few balls of yarn in above mentioned colors and some triangle granny squares and poof! A super cute afghan! After that I began to see inspiration in every quilt I saw. As a result I now have a board just for quilts that I want to make into afghans. Stripes and chevrons, granny squares and motifs, I almost feel like a whole new world of creativity has been opened up to me!

I look forward to trying this in the future. Right now I have one afghan in the works and one waiting in the wings. I must, must, must finish those before I start any other big projects. I have a new hat in the works and I can't wait to share it with you all. Right now I have family in town and can't really spend a lot of time with a photo tutorial and pattern writing, but once I'm back to my regular schedule I will be more than happy to share my first free pattern with everyone! Have a great day and happy hooking.

You Can't Always Get What You Want and some Star Wars Awesomeness!

I saw the cutest hat in my hotel's gift shop the other day. Well, I didn't particularly care for the colors used but I loved the stitch pattern. As it only comes in kids' sizes, I couldn't just buy it. So I figured I would just make it instead. On my breaks I would go down to the gift shop and stare at it. I'm pretty sure some of my coworkers thought I was crazy, obsessively staring at this one hat. But my fellow hookers know what I was doing. I was trying to figure out how to replicate this hat. I thought I had the pattern ingrained in my memory, but alas, it isn't so.

I came home and pulled out my hooks and a skein of extra yarn and set to work on a prototype. And nothing. I tried charting several different versions and even tried free handing it, but I couldn't make it work. Don't think for a second that I'm giving up, dear readers. This just proves to me that no matter how good I think I am at crocheting, there is always something new I could learn.

I'm still on a hat craze. I've made two since this blog's inception. I fully plan on posting pictures and links to the patterns I used, but I haven't had the opportunity to get pictures of them yet. I know what colors I want for my next hat. I really like lime green, electric blue, white, and black. I think I'm aiming for something sporty and fairly simple. I don't know yet. I'm looking forward to a trip to the yarn store.

My afghan is going fairly well. I've finished a few more squares in between hats. I'm a bit ADHD with crochet. I have a hard time sticking with just one project at a time. In fact, I have a large box of unfinished projects waiting for me to finish up when my time here in Germany is complete. And speaking of afghans, I've been feeling so inspired.

Side tangent - For Christmas my best friend crocheted me a Twi'lek hat. (Google it if you don't get the Star Wars reference) Me in my Twi'lek hat! (If you're a Star Wars nut, you can find the pattern here at Stitching Up a Storm.

Now I am determined to give her an awesome Star Wars themed gift next year. I happened to come across this amazing crocheted afghan on Pinterest - BAM! Inspiration - and I know it'll be perfect. It uses granny squares in black, grey, and white to look like a Storm Trooper. (Charts for this afghan and many other Star Wars designs can be found here and a picture of a finished afghan can be found here ) I know she'll love it (if I can keep a secret from her - luckily she doesn't follow my blog) so there's a good chance that will be my next 'big' project when I get back to the States.

Anyway, that's all I've got for today. Until next time!

P.S. I finally found the right html code to make the clickable 'here' link! Yay!

Afghan Fever

Ah, it's snowing. Gently falling snowflakes blanketing the ground, still untouched by all my fellow dorm residents. Basically, it's the perfect day for hot chocolate and crocheting.

I've been working on an afghan based on Three Beans in a Pod's Retro Circles Blanket (her whole blog is amazing!), pattern found http://threebeansinapodcrochet.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/retro-circles-tutorial.html
and Coats and Clark Pokey Dots Throw, pattern found http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pokey-dots-throw. Both are available for free!  

That's my baby! It's not even half done yet and already the short side is almost six feet long! There was a little bit of a calculation error, but I love it nonetheless!

So, that calculation error - I made a sample square out of some extra four ply yarn I had on hand to get the general size of each square so I could calculate the size I wanted and how much yarn I would need for this mammoth side endeavor  I knew I wanted a larger blanket since I am a very tall woman and I've always wanted a blanket large enough to sprawl out under and still be completely covered. So, I had my sample square, drew out a plan, and got online to order my yarn.

Based on my math, I would need a crap ton of yarn. Yikes! I found Red Heart Comfort yarn and knew it would be perfect. It comes in a wide range of colors and the yarn balls themselves are huge! I ordered what I would need and it all arrived a month and half later. As it happened, it is slightly thicker than the four ply I sampled with, and therefore required a larger hook. Due to those two factors I will now end up with an eight foot afghan. When I finally finish this mammoth, I'll post pictures of the completed blanket and the final measurements.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy your own crocheting endeavors and happy hooking.

New Year, New Blog

Once again I find myself at the start of a new year. Well, technically we're thirteen days into the new year, but hey, it still feels pretty new to me. I can feel that this will be a great year. I have resolved to blog about crochet. It's something I'm quite passionate about. I love the idea of posting tutorials for new crocheters and free patterns for crocheters of all levels. I can't wait to share the projects I'm working on, both the great ones and the not so great ones. I'm excited to follow other amazing crochet blogs and connect with my fellow hookers (haha, crochet humor). I look forward to this new adventure and I wish all my readers happy hooking!